Interpretation ID: nht74-2.3

DATE: 10/07/74

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; R. B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Southern Railway System

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your September 24, 1974, question whether Standard No. 121, Air brake systems, would apply to trailers manufactured prior to January 1, 1975, although the painting of the trailers and their delivery to Southern had not been completed.

Section 108(a)(1) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 provides:

(a) No person shall --

(1) manufacture for sale, sell . . . any motor vehicle . . . manufactured on or after the date any applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard takes effect under this subchapter unless it is in conformity with such standard . . .

We consider a vehicle to be "manufactured" for purposes of the Act where the vehicle has been completed in all respects except for the addition of readily attachable components or minor finishing operations such as painting undertaken at a later date. A discussion of this point appears in the preamble to a recent Standard No. 121 rulemaking action (39 FR 17564, May 17, 1974). As for possession of the trailers by Southern, delivery of the vehicle is not considered a element of the manufacturing process.

Yours truly,

ATTACH.

Southern Railway System

Law Department

September 24, 1974

T. W. Herlihy -- Office of Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U. S. Department of Transportation

Dear Mr. Herlihy:

Southern Railway Company is in the process of taking delivery on 1,000 new trailers from the Fruehauf Corporation. These units are being built in Ft. Madison, Iowa and are being shipped over the road to St. Louis, Missouri, where Kux Manufacturing Company is stenciling them. They are then delivered to Southern at our East St. Louis, Illinois Intermodal Facility.

There is no question that Fruehauf will complete the manufacture of these units by January 1, 1975. On the other hand, there is serious doubt that Kux will complete the stenciling by that date and make delivery of all 1,000 units to us. MVSS 121 (the new "brake law") applies to units manufactured after January 1, 1975. Is our understanding correct that as long as the trailers in question are manufactured prior to January 1, 1975, they will not be required to be fitted with the new brake system, even though some of them may actually be delivered after January 1, 1975?

I would appreciate your advice, confirming the foregoing understanding of the law.

With many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

William P. Stallsmith, -- Senior General Attorney

cc: C. E. Webb -- Assistant Vice President-Engineering & Researh, Southern Railway Company